One-Pot Chickpea Pasta Revisited

In early 2011, I posted a recipe for a One-Pot Chickpea Pasta recipe that called for spaghetti. I decided to visit this recipe and play with it being gluten-free. And I as well found something exciting on a recent shopping excursion to my local Fred Meyers natural section.

Truitt Brothers Tru-Harvest beans, in 5 varieties. In Tetra-Pak packaging, just rip the top open and use. No cans, no questionable liners and these are really tasty beans. Bonus: the beans are grown in Washington State as well. OK, one downside: they are not cheap. Worth it though. About as close as one will get shelf-stable beans.

Which brings me to this: yes, you can buy dehydrated beans. You can dry your own. But sometimes you just want to get going, and not have to plan. If you can grab what you need, and go? Then life is good. Is it the lightest option? Of course not! But then, my attitude on pack weights has changed a bit over the years, and there are concessions I am OK with doing. Partly this comes from our youngest son’s food allergies. He is allergic to gluten, along with a number of other fun things, but can handle cheese in small amounts. For him, this was a dish he could enjoy!

Carefully open and drain beans (use a spoon over a corner of the box to keep beans from flying out. If you are into bean broth, use the broth for part of the water called for.

Add 4 cups water to a 2 Liter pot, along with oil and beans. Bring to boil, add in pasta bag contents, cook pasta for time as directed on package, lowering flame on stove to just maintain a simmer, stirring often.

I use Trader Joe’s brown rice pasta and like the texture/taste. Just don’t over cook it! What I found with the dish is gluten-free is better than the original. No starch! I loved the lighter taste in the finished meal. Make it vegan by using your favorite faux-Parmesan cheese blend.